Pocket Full of Garden – Cal Lathrope

“Our workshop crew is damn good at making ideas come to life.” said the Director of Deus Indonesia, Dustin Humphrey. “I had this bike built for Zye Norris but when he had to go home, it ended up being ridden by Cal Lathrope. Cal went surprising well on it during this trip, especially since he hasn’t been riding all that long. The donor bike is a KLX 250 which is the only readily available dual sport bike in Bali. As with most of our builds the idea was to keep the functionality of a new bike while adding a VMX aesthetic.”

We thought it a good idea to see what Cal’s thoughts on the trip were.

How long have you been riding a motorcycle?

I haven’t been riding very long. Only when I spent some time in Bali a few years ago I became tired of the scooters and decided to learn how to ride a real bike ‘cause I thought it would help with the ladies.

Did it?

Not even a little bit.

What does motorcycling mean to you?

Freedom. Nothing feels better than getting on the bike first thing in the morning or any time for that matter and feeling some air fly past your face. Not to mention it’s a handy way to evade Bali traffic.

What bike did you ride on the trip?

On this trip, I rode a KLX250 that had been very well built with a vintage aesthetic and brown leather seat. The only thing I would want to improve or just remove were the custom metal fenders. While they looked amazing, and hell they worked perfectly…it was always in the back of my head that I would crash and bend the crap out of them.

How was it living on the bike for 8 days? Is this the longest trip you have done on a motorcycle?

Being on the bike for that long was surprisingly enjoyable. Only the first few days were a hurdle, then I started to become pretty accustomed to it. This was definitely the longest trip I have done and once it was finished I found myself wishing we were all still away riding in the mountains.

What was your most memorable part of the trip?

One hundred percent the most memorable part of the trip was riding through the “stream” which was more of a small waterfall into a river. I had no idea what to expect but it was completely outside my ability on a motorcycle. It’s hard to explain but throughout the ordeal I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. With a little bit of encouragement and help from Tom I got through it. Looking back, it was for sure an entertaining experience and something to have a laugh about with the boys for a long time.

If you could do any part different, what would it be?

The only thing I would do differently on this that trip would have been to bring more clean underwear and socks. By the end of it everything was either soaked with water or sweat.

Pick another person from the trip and give us a little insight on them. Anything impressive / disappointing?

Well, nothing too out of the ordinary here but Lewie does not like clothes. He had everyone laughing hysterically for a majority of the trip. Also, Hawk loves to light his farts on fire and he is quite good at it.

You went to quite a different type of Bali than you are used to. What surprised you the most about the areas you visited?

What surprised me the most about the parts of Bail we were riding in was the extreme change in scenery from the coastal areas of the island I am accustomed to. Also, what I really enjoyed was the change in climate. I had no clue that it was possible for Bali to be that cold.

Out of everyone on the trip who would you let punch you in the face?

I’d rather have Kelana (Dustin’s 9 year old son) punch me in the face ten times before letting any of the other boys have a go.

If you had to choose a song to listen to in your helmet whist riding those mountain roads, what would it be?

This sounds super lame, but the whole trip I was listening to a new Calvin Harris album called Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1. There’s no EDM just super funky beats with rad rapper/singer colabs on every track.

Where else in the World would you like to explore via motorcycle and why?

I would love to one day ride around the mountains in Nepal and India. Another big trip that has been a topic of conversation lately would be to ride from California to Central America stopping to surf all the way down.

What did you like about your bike?

What was best about my bike was how it was so easy to ride. It was made with more of a novice rider in mind and I believe that made certain situations much easier to ride through.

What did you not like about your bike?

The only downside of the bike was the hard seat. A bit more cushion will definitely be in line for next time.